More than 150 workers were present in the Rajput Polyester Factory, located in the Sundar Industrial Estate, 20 kilometres south of the city, when it collapsed, according to DCO Capt (retd) Muhammad Usman.
“There was some construction work ongoing on the fourth floor which gave way, damaging the three floors below and trapping dozens of workers under the rubble,” he added. DCO Usman confirmed the toll but other officials and rescuers feared the figure could go up as several dozen people were still trapped under tons of rubble.
As the news broke, curious residents and anxious relatives of the workers rushed to the spot to dig out survivors. An official of the Edhi Foundation said that when they reached the spot, they could hear the cries of the trapped workers which meant they had to be careful in clearing the debris, slowing down the rescue operation.
The rescuers used construction equipment provided by Bahria Town and the city district government to pull out survivors and retrieve bodies.
Jam Sajjad Hussain, the spokesman for Rescue 1122, said 100 people were still trapped, while ambulances were taking the injured to the Jinnah Hospital, General Hospital and Sharif Medical Complex for treatment. “All our rescue workers are on site but it is such a big incident that we have called staff from Sheikhupura and Kasur districts,” he added.
The Pakistan Army meanwhile announced it was deploying specialist search teams and engineers to the factory. “Heavy machinery, including an excavator, a bulldozer and two cranes, has been sent to the spot,” the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement.
Three cranes, a bulldozer and more than 40 emergency rescue vehicles were working at the site, a rescue official said. But provincial government spokesman Zaeem Qadri told reporters that progress was slow because the factory was at the end of a narrow lane making it difficult for excavators to reach the site. He added that an emergency has been declared at all local hospitals.
A survivor told the media that they were working in the factory when the roof caved in with a huge thud. After the October 26 massive earthquake cracks had developed in the building, and a government department had asked the owner to repair the building, he said. “Our appeals for strengthening the building went unheeded, and the owner instead decided to build another floor.”
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said it was possible the building had been damaged after the earthquake. “I have heard about earthquake effect on the building, but according to labourers the owner, who was also trapped under the rubble, continued to build an extension,” he told reporters. “The owner had installed heavy machinery on the top floor which might have caused the roof to cave in.”
Shahbaz visited the injured at the hospitals and the site of the incident. He also ordered an inquiry into the incident. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain have expressed their condolence on the death of the factory workers. The provincial government also announced Rs500,000 as compensation for heirs of each of the victims.
